A Short History of the Christmas Punch Bowl

I

t turns out that punch, that ubiquitous large bowl full of a variety of liquids
and seen in most Christmastime gatherings, got its name originally from India.

There are various attributions to the name but the name for the drink that seems
to make the most sense derived from the Hindi word, panch, for "five" – and in India
the concoction was traditionally made with five ingredients.

Sailors and others from the British East India Company imported the concept of punch
back to the mother country in the early-1600s. Prior to then people were drinking
wassail – a cider-based drink. But punch really caught on with the introduction
of high-potency rum from Jamaica.

Today – well, mainly in the middle of the last century and on to the ‘90s – punch
became the rage and no bride was complete without at least one glass punch bowl
and silver punch ladles. Recipes were either traded or guarded jealously and it
was possible for a family to be “made” socially based on the quality, quantity and
alcoholic content of the punch they served at their Christmas gatherings.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of punch recipes available now, ranging from
gentile ones that could be – and often are – served at church functions to the kind
that will have you wishing the next day that you had used better judgment your beverage
consumption.